Currently viewing the category: "heart"

Booze, Cancer Link in Women

By On · Add Comment · In alcohol, breast cancer, heart, liquor, liver cancer, oral cancer, rectal cancer
A drink or two a day is thought in some circles to be good for the health. Not so for women, we now know. According to a recent study, even moderate alcohol consumption causes an increased risk for several cancers in women. Youch!

A study of nearly 1.3 million British women found that as the numbers of drinks increased, so did the cancer risks. Breast, liver and rectal cancers were the most likely to develop. Throw in a few Marlboro Lights and oral and esophageal cancers went up too. Whether the women drank beer, wine, or hard liquor mattered not–the more drinks, the higher the cancer risk.

It’s true, studies have found some heart benefits to imbibing the hooch, but risk to benefit ratio must be weighed, especially in light of these findings. Healthy heart or breast cancer? Hmmm…might want to think twice about that one, especially since a good aerobic workout is better for the heart than a shot. The women with the lowest risk in the study drank fewer than two drinks per week. I know what you’re thinking, but saving them all up for an end of the month binge is probably not good either.

Listen, I’m no prohibitionist but just a little food for thought. As cancer slowly becomes the leading cause of illness and death worldwide, this is info everyone should have. So have a Martinelli’s tonight and sleep easy.

Bodybuilders Need Cardio

By On · Add Comment · In aerobic, athletes, cardio, cardiovascular exercise, endurance, exercise, fitness, heart, left ventricular hypertrophy, strength, ventricles

You know what I never get? The one-dimensional exerciser. You know who I’m talking about–the buffed guy who never does cardio; or the panting and sweaty guy who does an hour on the treadmill (get off, man–people are waiting!) and nothing else. Even so, most people have the sense that they’ve gotta mix it up from time to time. But now, my friends, we’ve got proof.

A recent study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology looked at athletes who participated solely in one fitness activity–either endurance or strength training–and found that people who do cardiovascular exercise (endurance training) have an increase in size of both their right and left heart ventricles, while those who do strength training have excessive growth in their left ventricle only. Additionally, the ability of the left ventricle to fully relax between beats–the diastolic function–is enhanced in endurance athletes, while it worsens in strength trainers.

The heart ventricles pump blood away from the heart. The right ventricle pumps blood to the lungs and the left ventricle pumps blood to the rest of the body. It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon, then, to figure out why cardiovascular training increases growth in both ventricles–cardio pumps blood to the lungs as well as the working muscles of the body. And it’s not brain science understanding how strength training increases growth in the left ventricle excessively. Pumping iron requires massive amounts of blood moved to the working muscles. Heart muscle, like any other muscle, increases in girth when exercised. Pumping iron=pumping blood=buffed heart. That’s a heavy workload for the left ventricle to supply the muscles of the body all by its lonesome–but it does.

Unfortunately, an enlarged left ventricle can present a problem. It’s called left ventricular hypertrophy and can lead to things like shortness of breath, chest pain, sensation of rapid, fluttering or pounding heartbeats (palpitations), dizziness, fainting, or rapid exhaustion with physical activity. Therefore, it’s probably not a good idea to neglect your cardiovascular training. If you read my book, The Six Keys To Optimal Health, you’ll see how all three pillars of exercise–resistance training, cardiovascular training and stretching–work together to enhance each other. So you’ve really got to do each one in balance.

Some people think that if they just do their weight training at a quick pace then they’re getting their cardio in. Uh, no, sorry. Cardio is cardio. Try this. Moderately paced and continuous aerobic exercise (weight training is anaerobic) that makes you sweat. That’s it. That’s cardio. It’s not window shopping, walking through the parking garage to your car, or resting for only one minute instead of two between sets at the gym. Uh uh. Nope. Gotta keep moving for 15, 20, or 30 minutes. And if you do it regularly, you’ll gain strength, balance, and endurance in your muscles, lungs, and heart. Now ain’t that worth the added sweat?

Widely-Used Medicine Kills 22,000

By On · Add Comment · In 60 Minutes, Bayer, dialysis, diet, exercise, health, heart, kidney failure, magic bullets, open heart surgery, Trasylol

Just another very big reason to take care of your health while you still have it: Magic bullets don’t always work; and often, they can turn deadly. Take for instance the latest news coming out of the 60 Minutes newsroom. In an interview to be aired next Sunday, a medical researcher has disclosed that 22,000 lives were lost due to complications of a drug used to stem bleeding during open heart surgeries.

According to researcher Dr. Dennis Mangano, an observational study he conducted showed that the drug Trasylol, manufactured by Bayer AG, was linked to kidney failure and death. The scary part is that Trasylol, one of the most widely-used drugs of its kind, was used on one-third of all open heart surgeries during the drug’s “height”. Worse yet, in his study, Dr. Mangano recommended discontinuing the use of Trasylol and that the drug be recalled. Doh!

But wait, it gets better: Bayer, the German pharmaceutical company, well-known for its aspirin, also knew of the link between Trasylol and kidney disease…but withheld the information from the FDA. Nice. Cha-Ching!

Once again, just another big reason to take care of your health now. Your heart needs proper caring and maintenance–through diet and exercise–just like all your organs do. Yeah, I know we all know this–but is everyone doing what they need to do in order to keep their hearts ticking? If you’re not, then you’re flirting with disaster. Just imagine going in for a heart bypass and coming out with dialysis. The major point here is that nobody is going to care for your health as much as you do. Period. Some companies will have no remorse to make money at the expense of your safety–you’d better believe it. So if you don’t care for your heart like its your most valuable asset, then don’t expect anybody else to, either–not Bayer; not your surgeon; not your insurance agent; not your Congressman; not your next President, no matter who that might be; not anyone. You’d better believe that.

Copyright © 2013 Dr. Nick Campos - All Rights Reserved.